Hello. I’ve been a window user from win95. I’d like to learn more about Linux but don’t know where to start. I had a brief intro when I was in highschool and recently I’ve been seeing more and more talk here on Lemmy. Mostly memes.
With how bad Google is finding good information unless I add -reddit to my search. Which I won’t do. Trying to stay away from that.
What can I expect to find as a casual observer? Why does Linux do that’s “better” than Windows? That’s not meant to inflame anyone. More so what do you personally like better.
I’d disagree with that last part. There’s alot more that linux does which they may find useful. You can change the entire paradigm of how your computer looks and feels by installing another Desktop Environment while losing nothing, your original DE will still be there, all your apps will be too, and you won’t have to re-install.
You can get some absurd amounts of customization from KDE Plasma too if that’s your thing.
Also, in my experience, it breaks less. And when it does break it tells you exactly how. There’s more info out there than “Error 1204, 483, and 2096 all mean that the update failed. If you see one, try running sfc scannow” or other generic codes that end up in the same three commands which only work 30% of the time. On linux, you tend to find helpful instructions with an explanation as to why it happened
On top of that, choice. If you hate change with a passion, you can install debian and only update every 5 years. It’ll be completely secure and your system will not change how it works over that time. Also, xfce and trinity keep the same look and feel so many people liked alive. If you hated the transition from windows 7 and wanted to stay on it even to this day, that’s impossible on windows, on linux there can be forks that keep it alive.
Also, theming for plasma can keep new features while still looking like the old.
There’s more features to some of the tools as well. I hate to keep tooting the kde horn, but if you want to do it plasma very likely has a solution for it.
You can add entries to the file managers right click menu, add features to krunner the linux version of macos spotlight, change how windows work while moving them, zoom into sections, invert a windows colours, change how clicking on a window works at a fundamental level, add burn my windows effects to ‘beam them up Scottie’ or light them on fire (not my style but I’m glad it’s possible), change out everything on the panel like I do with the clock; calendar; and start menu with ease, add new random stuff in like a colour picker; timer; now playing on spotify, your colour scheme will apply to many non-default apps too (gnome also does this), etc.
Or, you can get gnome, which is a very locked down by default but polished user experience.
Tiling windows managers, automatic or manual tilers, different docks and shells, and mixing them all together.
Easier sandboxing with flatpack for the security minded, a better experience while installing apps in my opinion, godly forums with very helpful people, and the penguin will jack you off once weekly. God I love linux.